Love Entrapped in Ice
by Akira Takanashi
Summary: How can an expedition go so wrong? Akihiko is a famous photographer and goes to the mountaintops to take some photos for a convention. A fierce blizzard unexpectedly comes, forcing Akihiko to seek shelter in a cave. However, what was inside the cave was a big surprise! A brown haired boy entrapped in a diamond ice crystal! How will Akihiko react?
1. Chapter 1: Best Day of My Life

_This is my first story - please go easy on me! Enjoy! _

_Summary: How can an expedition go so wrong? Akihiko is a famous photographer and goes to the mountaintops to take some photos for a convention. (because he was forced to by Arisaka) However, a fierce blizzard unexpectedly comes, forcing Akihiko to seek shelter in a cave. However, what was inside the cave was a big surprise! A brown haired boy entrapped in a diamond ice crystal! How will Akihiko react to this!? _

_Narrator POV_

Akihiko had just finished climbing over a snow capped peak somewhere in Japan, and was currently resting by sitting down on a rock. The morning sun shined brilliantly and a gentle breeze blew. The signs of a beautiful day have been disregarded by Akihiko as he groaned from the rigorous exercise he did. As he did so, Akihiko had an unpleasant mental flashback:

_Akihiko was reclining on the couch, peacefully dozing off when – _

_"__AKIHIKO!"boomed a voice_

_"__Huh?" was the groggy reply_

_"__WHAT DO YOU MEAN HUH?" yelled Arisaka "YOU HAVE A FEW WEEKS TILL THE PHOTO CONVENTION!" _

_"__Yeah Yeah." said Akihiko as he yawned_

_"__AKIHIKO PAY ATTENTION!" _

_"…"_

_"__AKIHIKO!"_

_It ended with a steaming, furious Aikawa forcing Akihiko (who was nearly deaf from the screaming) into snow gear and kicking him out of the house with the words: "TAKE SOME PICTURES!"_

_-end of flashback—_

Akihiko shuddered. "Why did I have to remember that." grumbled Akihiko. Aikawa had been Akihiko's reliable partner in (forcefully) making him reach his deadlines. Not that Akihiko appreciated her methods of reminding him. 'Speaking of deadlines, I haven't taken any pictures yet' thought Akihiko glumly. Japan's mountains are really beautiful, but for the convention, Akihiko wanted a photo that would stand out. "I mean seriously" muttered Akihiko, "The theme for the convention is 'Natural Beauty'. What kind of a theme is that?" Standing up from where he was sitting, Akihiko surveyed his surroundings. Untouched snow lay on the ground like frosting and the trees looked like it was covered in powdered sugar. 'Great.' Thought Akihiko amusedly 'I am relating my surroundings to food – I must really be going senile.' Smiling to himself, Akihiko continued his exploration of Japan's mountains – hoping to capture a wonderful photo to present for the convention. However, gone unnoticed by Akihiko, were the ominous storm clouds approaching behind him.

Akihiko's POV (May be a bit OOC)

I had finally noticed the dark grey storm clouds around the afternoon when the climate had noticeably gone down a few degrees. By then, the sun was hidden from view and the winds increased in their velocity. Snow flew everywhere, obscuring my sight. I couldn't even see my hands when I put it directly in front of my face. Realizing that I needed to find shelter, I stumbled around for a bit until luckily my hand came in contact with rock.

Groping around, I found that there was a large cave. 'How convenient.' I thought as I entered. The blizzard roared ferociously outside. 'I won't be leaving this cave any time soon' I thought grimly. Inside, the cave had large icicles hanging from the ceiling lined with mini ice crystals that sparkled like stars. What was strange was that the cave was unusual was that the cave was filled with light. I had no trouble seeing inside the cave.

Mist rose as I breathed, enjoying the scene. This is a perfect image that has to be taken! I reached for my camera in my jacket pocket but found to my horror that it wasn't there. "Damn it." I muttered. I must've dropped the camera somewhere during the storm. Deciding to forget about the camera, I focused on venturing even deeper into the cave.

As I walked farther inside, rows of ice crystals appeared that stuck up from the ground. Also, those ice crystals were massive – about as tall as a horse! "How peculiar" I mused. What was strange was that the ice crystals seemed to be glowing. Not like the luminescent-moss-is-making-the-ice-crystals-glow but it felt like the soft glow radiated from the crystal itself. Not only that, the glow felt warm upon my skin – which was weird. I mean, the ice crystal was perfectly intact, with no sign of melting. I had made sure of that when I punched the ice crystal (and ended up with a bruise on my right hand). However I still haven't located the source of heat. After a few hours, I chose to come back to speculate this mystery later and decided to explore more. However, now I felt excited to see more sights that the cave would offer.

When I arrived at the last chamber of the cavern I gasped. The whole cave was basically covered in crystals, which also radiated a glow like the crystals that I've seen earlier. "Wow, this is incredible" I breathed. Then I noticed an even bigger crystal in the middle of the cavern. "Haha, this one is even bigger- wait...w-what?!"

I noticed that there was what looks to be a human in the ice. "...My eyes are playing tricks on me right?" Then squinting my eyes and pinching myself a few times (ow) I realized that I was not dreaming. There was really a boy trapped in the ice. '!'

After the moment of surprise passed, I then sighed inwardly. 'What sort of crazy thing am I being involved in?' Nevertheless, I can't just leave a human being, well what looks human, confined. Also, I have to admit that I was a bit curious about this...

Upon closer inspection, I saw a boy with chocolate hair and translucent white skin. His eyes were closed – I would have even thought that he was sleeping – if it weren't for the fact that he was encased in some sort of diamond shaped ice crystal. "Is this some sort of advanced human cryogenics?" I muttered to myself. Cautiously approaching the crystal, I examined the boy more closely. He seemed to be a lot younger than me. "Probably around 18 years old" I muttered, "How can this be possible?" I then reached out my hand to touch the crystal.

To my surprise, the crystal shattered into several pieces upon contact. The sight ironically reminded me of snow flakes falling to the ground. Looking around, I was speechless. Who would have thought that the boy-Ah right! What about the boy!? Frantically, I focused my attention on the boy.

The boy seemed to be temorarily suspended in midair. However, with nothing to support him, the boy began to fall towards me. "Whoa!" I said as I caught him in my arms. Seeing him much closer, I felt that the boy was somehow delicate – maybe even ethereal. He seemed like he could break into pieces at the slightest movement like a china doll. I mentally face palmed. 'Who cares for details like that at a time like this?!' I inwardly yelled at myself.

Quickly I laid the boy down – away from the ice fragments – and searched for a pulse on his wrist. As expected, the boy was as cold as the ice he was entrapped in. However after a few seconds, I felt a pulse and saw color return to the boy's face. Also, the boy's body temperature soon became like that of a normal human's.

Having experienced enough strange occurrences today, I was not surprised anymore at this point. I covered the unconscious boy with my coat and sat down, covering my face with my hands. I could have sworn that some years of my life have been knocked off by this. First I was kicked out of my house, then I was caught in a blizzard, lost my camera, and then finally end up with some mysterious boy. Great. 'What did I ever do to be in this predicament?' I groaned inside.

TBC Hope u enjoyed it so far!


	2. Chapter 2: What Happened?

I woke, feeling a bit woozy.

"Urrgh."

Sitting up I saw that I had a coat over me. 'When did I ever fall asleep?' I wondered, dazed. Suddenly, my mind cleared and I began thinking coherently. 'Where am I? And whose coat is this?!"

Then I noticed a stranger sleeping next to me. He was on his back with his head tilted slightly towards me. "Who is he? ...Do I know him?" I moved my face closer to the man to study his face more.

He had brilliant silver hair, a muscular figure, and a handsome face. His shining silver hair fanned out on the ground. Embarrassingly enough, I couldn't tear my gaze away.

This continued for a few seconds until suddenly, the mysterious man opened his eyes. In shock, I screamed loudly and scrambled back a few paces.

"What is with the racket!" grumbled the man. "…Oh, you're awake."

"I-I'm sorry!" I stuttered. He looked very grumpy and I seemed to have upset him. "I was only observing you for a little while…"

And then I stopped talking. Me and my big mouth! What was I even saying? He will think I'm weird right?

"…"

"U-umm, are you alright?" I asked nervously

"…Hahahaha!" the man bursted in laughter

Seeing this man laugh at me for no reason made me angry. "Why are you laughing!" I snapped

"This is the first time.. Haha.. that someone replied so honestly to me" chuckled the man while trying (unsuccessfully) to stifle his laughter.

'This man is weird.' was my first impression of him. At first I creased my eyebrows but soon I smiled. Maybe this man isn't a bad guy. I tried to shift my weight to a more comfortable position.

Then I felt something sharp prick my right hand. "Ouch!" I yelped.

"Are you okay?" asked the man concernedly.

"I think I scraped my hand." I replied.

Then the man smirked. "It's not a surprise, seeing that you are in the middle of ice shards."

"In the middle of…" I looked down at the icy ground, "Wait, WHAT is this?!" I was surrounded by countless pieces of small ice shards, which amazingly looked like miniature diamonds.

"Congratulations, you got yourself in the middle of a hazard zone and got injured. Genius." said the man sarcastically.

I huffed and stood up. "I'm fine, thank you very much for your concern. It was only a small scratch anyway." A thought then passed my mind.

"I forgot to ask but…what is your name mister?"

"I'm offended" retorted the man, "I'm not that old and my name is Akihiko Usami."

"Akihiko Usami? I never heard of that name before."

"So you're one of the few people that doesn't know me, even though I'm a famous photographer..." muttered the man before narrowing his eyes and focusing his attention on me again. "Well, on the other hand, I think it is more important for me to know your name."

"M-My name?"

"Are you deaf? Of course It's your name I want." sighed Usami exasperatedly

"…It's Misaki" I hesitated before replying.

Then an awkward silence.

I desperately wanted to break the tension. "Well, how did these ice shards get here anyway?" I asked.

"You don't remember?" said Usami incredulously, "You were trapped in an ice crystal."

"An ice crystal?" I questioned, "What ice crystal?"

Usami growled. "Don't toy with me, look at the shattered remains of ice – don't you remember anything?"

Staring at the ice shards, I felt some sort of memory coming to me but it elusively escaped my grasp.

Also Usami, when angry, is a very very scary person. I tensed up in fear. I felt that I needed to reply quickly or else suffer his wrath.

"N-no!" I sniffed, "I honestly don't remember anything!"

"I saw you encased in some sort of gigantic diamond-shaped ice crystal. Does that ring any bells?"

Inwardly, I was now seriously doubting Usami's sanity. Who in the world believes in such nonsense like being trapped in ice? And a diamond shaped ice crystal does not make matters any better. I studied Usami's face and saw that he was completely serious.

"Sadly, no. I don't remember anything. I don't even know anything else about myself except my name" I replied.

Usami seemed to be contemplating something before looking at me directly in the eyes. His violet eyes seemed to pierce through me, and I felt exposed. This was because I felt that I can never hide anything from this man.

Then Usami's eyes softened a little. "Well, I guess I can't blame you. You have been trapped in there for who knows how long."

I broke myself from his gaze and looked at my feet.

"Well, it believe that the storm is ending. Let's go out together." Said Usami

I looked up in surprise. "You aren't going to leave me here?"

"How could I leave a person alone in a cave? Besides, it might be better for you to get cleaned up and fed."

I brightened and flashed Usami a smile. "Thank you!"

"…You're welcome."

And together we exited the cave. The storm has ended and the morning sun shined brilliantly with a few puffs of clouds here and there. A gentle but frigid breeze blew. Luckily, Usami instructed me to put on his coat since he had a spare one for himself before exiting. 'What will await us beyond?' I wondered as I breathed in the fresh air.

...

A days after they left a shadowy figure appeared in the chamber where the diamond crystal was located. It looked frantically around before noticing the shattered ice crystals on the ground. "Dammit! I was too late!" shouted the figure "Who could have possibly discovered this place before I did?! I must and will find him!"

I hope you guys like it so far! Please R&R!

Fyi: I might be uploading once every month from now on. :)

TBC


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